Reuters published yesterday what it described as an exclusive report, stating that the US is nearing a major escalation in its operations related to Venezuela.
The report is based on four anonymous American officials, who said the aim is to intensify pressure on Nicolás Maduro’s government, which Washington accuses of involvement in large-scale drug trafficking.
According to the report, US officials confirmed that this coming Monday, Washington plans to designate the Venezuelan criminal network “Cartel de los Soles,” involved in narcotics trafficking, as a foreign terrorist organization. American officials told Reuters that the Pentagon suspects Maduro himself heads the organization.
US War Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that such a designation “opens a wide range of new options,” allowing strikes on assets and infrastructure linked to Maduro. Labeling the cartel as a terrorist group, he said, “gives our department more tools to provide President Donald Trump with options to ensure the Western Hemisphere is not controlled by narco-terrorists, cartels, or illegitimate regimes.”